Craig McCracken Interview - Animation Magazine (1994)

 Interview by Rita Street.

Animation Magazine - Issue #31 October/November 1994

Click the image to enlarge. Text version included below.

Text Version:

I realized that little girls flying around as superheros beating up criminals is funnier than just some guy," says Director/Creator Craig McCracken, his large brown eyes hiding behind a mop of curly brown hair as he discusses his inspiration for The PowerPuff Girls.

    The PowerPuff Girls will make its debut on the Cartoon Network as one of 48 cartoons being produced by Hanna-Barbera and The Cartoon Network in an all out effort to bring back the great shorts of 40 years ago.

    With this landmark venture, the pressure is on to produce the best possible cartoons. But, can Hanna-Barbera really turn out the kind of quality shorts that were produced during the heyday of Warner

Bros. and Disney? 

    

    Executive Producer Buzz Potamkin certainly is determined to maintain quality. He likens the short production process to the production of commercials rather than the production of television shows.

    "When you're making commercials you never lose sight of the value of an individual frame. You only have 720 of them and you better be damn careful of them all — never lose sight of an individual frame. That's the sort of emphasis I'm trying to place on the shorts."

    

    As far as content, that's up to the artists. And the artists' mandate for the project? It's gotta be funny.

   

    The PowerPuff Girls appear to have a lot going for them in that department. Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles are just your average kindergartners. They have to go to school and they like to draw

with crayons. They also just happen to be the superheroines of Townsville, the biggest celebs around, and the trio the mayor relies on to save the day.

    Blossom is the head PowerPuff and leads her gang with a pretty stern hand. As McCracken puts it, "She's the one who makes sure that the day is saved correctly." Buttercup is the tough one. "She doesn't want to go through all the formalities of being a superhero. She'd rather just beat up anyone who does anything wrong. She's got a real short fuse." And, Bubbles... ah Bubbles. More concerned

with crayons than flying, she secretly just wants to be a little girl.

    The crusaders' early name was the "Whoopass Girls" and Craig's first short by the same name toured the country with Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation.

    McCracken recently pitched the second episode to the powers that be at Hanna-Barbera and The

Cartoon Network. If all goes well you may see the Girls battle The Amoeba Boys sometime next year. "They're the simplest criminals in Townsville," says McCracken, "Because they're single-cell

organisms their criminal minds haven't evolved."

    Their one goal in life? To get in a fight with the best kids in town — The PowerPuff Girls!

-R. Street